


INT. CINNABON - DAY

by merryghoul



Category: Better Call Saul (TV)
Genre: Daydreaming, Gen, Nebraska, Paranoia, Post-Break Up, Post-Breaking Bad, Self-Reflection, Shopping Malls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-08-14 12:46:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16492874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merryghoul/pseuds/merryghoul
Summary: Gene imagines what might happen if somehow Kim made it out to the Cinnabon he manages.





	INT. CINNABON - DAY

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pique](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pique/gifts).



The scene: the Cottonwood Mall Cinnabon, Omaha, Nebraska. It’s a normal day at Cinnabon. Krista is behind the register. Raquel is pulling out cinnamon rolls out of the oven. She’s about to make a bunch of Center of the Roll treats so they can be put in Cinnabon cups. Sam is making some cold drinks for a customer. Gene Taković is cleaning up the work area so no one slips or steps in anything. 

Kim Wexler walks up to the Cinnabon. She has a briefcase in one hand and a cell phone in the other. Gene puts his broom in the corner of the Cinnabon. Technically this is a health code violation. A restaurant inspector would dock the Cinnabon’s restaurant rating from “superior” to “excellent.” Gene is proud of this Cinnabon’s “excellent” rating. But Gene doesn’t care. He needs to take Kim’s order. 

“Hey, Krista?” Gene says as he’s heading towards the register. “Let me take the next few customers for you. Why don’t you have a lunch break? Go grab yourself a Whopper or a burger from Johnny Rockets or something.”

Krista steps away from the register and heads to the back of the restaurant. Gene assumes she’ll take his advice, take off her apron, and go to Burger King. Although he’d rather see her go to Johnny Rockets. But they’re both suggestions! As far as he’s concerned, she could go to the sushi place in the mall and he’d be happy. 

Kim steps up to the register just as Gene is logging into his register. “Hello and welcome to the Cottonwood Mall Cinnabon. My name is Gene. Are you ready to order?” 

Kim puts down her phone. “One Classic Roll and a small coffee. That does come with sugar and creamer, right?”

“I’ll make sure you get both of those things before you leave the counter.” Gene takes a breath. “Hey, Kim, don’t you recognize me?” 

Kim shakes her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

Gene’s voice is low. “It’s me, Jimmy.”

Kim’s eyes widen. “Is it really you, Jimmy?”

Gene nods. 

Kim laughs. “How did you end up here?”

“Long story. I’ll be happy to talk to you over that Classic Roll you just ordered.” Gene announces the price of the Classic Roll and the small coffee. Kim pays for it. After Sam gets Kim her coffee, Gene tells Sam to take over the register for a few minutes while he’s in the dining area of Cinnabon with Kim, telling her about his misadventures as Saul and as Gene. Just without all the mostly-Walt-related nasty bits.

 

Gene shakes his head. He knows that if he met Kim at Cinnabon, it wouldn’t be like the way he just dreamed it up. So he comes up with another scenario.

 

Same scene, same normal day at Cinnabon. Same Cinnabon employees in their same roles. Kim walks into the scene as Gene first envisioned it. Gene still puts down his broom and tells Krista to take a break. Same scene, with same dialogue, between Gene and Kim at the register. Except Gene says “It’s me, Jimmy” and Kim is aghast. Her “Is it really you, Jimmy” has bitterness in its tone.

“Yes, it’s me, Jimmy. I can explain--”

Kim leaves the Cinnabon. She doesn’t pay for her Classic Roll and coffee. Gene runs after her. He wants to yell her name but he knows he can’t. There might be people out for him. They might know his face and his voice from his Saul Goodman commercials. Kim can hear Gene’s shoes. She stops and turns to face him. There’s a tiny bit of hope in Gene that maybe Kim can find forgiveness for every wrong he’s done. “No, Jimmy,” she says. “It’s long been over.”

Gene stands in the middle of the mall, frozen by Kim’s words.

 

This dream feels a bit more cinematic in quality—more of a tragic ending, Gene thinks. But it’s not his actual reality. 

 

Same scene, same normal day at Cinnabon. Same Cinnabon employees in their same roles. Kim walks to the counter. Gene stops cleaning. He puts his broom down. He looks around the Cinnabon and in front of the mall. Gene notices a man in a leather jacket with a coffee and an empty container, both from Burger King. He’s reading the _Omaha World-Herald_. Gene freaks out. He forgets about Kim at the counter. Not like Kim would recognize him, anyway—why would Kim look for Jimmy or Saul with a mustache and glasses? He backs up slowly to the back of house and runs out the restaurant, heading for the dumpster area. He pulls the door to lock it. He’s safe, for as long as the man in the Cinnabon doesn’t chase after him and bust down the door.

 

Gene doesn’t like this scene. Too depressing, even if it is grounded in his current state of mind.

 

Same scene, same normal day at Cinnabon. Same Cinnabon employees in their same roles. Kim walks to the counter. Gene stops cleaning. He puts his broom down. He walks to Raquel and whispers. “I’m taking a bathroom break. It’s an emergency. You keep an eye on Krista and Sam.” And then he runs to the back of the house because he’s afraid Kim might notice who he is, even with the mustache and the Cinnabon uniform. That’s it. 

 

Gene also doesn’t like this scene. Not enough tension.

 

Same scene, same normal day at Cinnabon. Same Cinnabon employees in their same roles. Kim walks to the counter. But this time Krista remains at the register. Gene keeps his eyes on Kim. He doesn’t walk in her direction, but he does tasks that allow him to stay near the Cinnabon sneeze guards. Gene watches her eat her Classic Roll and drink her coffee as she’s scribbling furiously on papers for Mesa Verde. They don’t interact at all. When Kim is done, she throws her waste away, puts her tray on top of the Cinnabon’s trash receptacles, and leaves. 

 

That scene could work, Gene thinks. But what if there were variations?

 

Same scene, same normal day at Cinnabon. Same Cinnabon employees in their same roles. Kim walks to the counter and Krista’s still at the register. Gene keeps his eyes on Kim. But Kim notices Gene. “Jimmy?” Gene runs into the back of the house and lets his broom fall on the ground.

 

Not again, Gene thinks.

 

Same scene, same normal day at Cinnabon. Same Cinnabon employees in their same roles. Kim walks to the counter and Krista’s still at the register. Gene keeps his eyes on Kim. Kim notices Gene. “Jimmy?”

Gene clears his throat. “Hi, Kim.” He doesn’t bring attention to himself. 

 

From there Gene could have Kim and himself reconcile with each other. Or Kim tells him off. Both could happen, and the second scenario is always reasonable, since Gene knows he fucked up with “Saul Goodman” and traded away a joint lawyer practice as Jimmy McGill, with Kim as his partner, for a strip mall law practice with everyone he knew who wanted money just as badly as he did. But he can’t decide. He decides to come back to Gene watching Kim forlornly without talking to her in Cinnabon.

 

The scene: Epperly Airfield, just west of Omaha. For any of Gene’s earlier scenarios to make sense, Kim would have to fly to Omaha. The flight is most likely a connecting flight unless Mesa Verde wants her to start a branch in Omaha. There’s some sort of flight delay, something lasting several hours, and something that happens during his shift at Cinnabon. Gene prefers something less horrific, like, say, someone tried to rob the plane or someone had a heart attack. He goes with engine failure for the plane that’s going to take Kim out of Omaha. So instead of being stuck with the Blimpies and the Godfather’s Pizzas at the airport, she gets a rental car and drives to Cottonwood Mall, but not before she informs who she’s trying to get to that she’ll be late for whatever it is she’s late for. Gene knows there’s nothing like Cinnabon at Epperly Airfield, so why not? Kim parks her car closest to the department store closest to Cinnabon and walks in the mall. That’s where the second scene at Cinnabon would start, with Gene watching Kim’s every move.

Kim is back on her connecting flight. The engine’s been repaired. Kim pulls the airplane desk in front of her and pulls it down. She opens her briefcase. Then she stops. There’s a look on her face, as if she wonders if the employee sweeping in the Cinnabon she entered was Jimmy or not. We’ll never know, because she returns to opening her briefcase and working on more papers for Mesa Verde. End scene.

 

Of course, none of this will happen. Gene has no idea where Kim is. Gene will never know if she ever will bump into him or not. The reality of the matter is Gene needed a break from watching his Saul Goodman tapes, and, at least for the moment, daydreaming of meeting Kim at Cinnabon was his break. But now he’s out of scenarios. He’s all alone with his “Better Call Saul” tapes again. 

 

As the end of one of his tapes played “And that’s why I fight for you, Albuquerque,” Gene begins to cry, again. He stopped counting his tears a long time ago.


End file.
